I See Fire
by Broken.Skylit.Lights
Summary: The only thing she remembers is the burning village. Where did she come from? How did she get here? The only person who may be able to help her find her answer is the cold and mysterious demon Lord of the Western Lands. But will he help?
1. Prelude

It was snowing.

Or it would have been if the flames licking heat towards the sky. She was standing in the middle of the destroyed village. Her eyes blinked slowly as she took in the carnage around her. Bodies laid broken and forgotten, blood covering the ground and what snow hadn't been melted from the heat. The homes of the village had been all but flattened from the flames. There was no sound of life other than herself.

Glancing down at herself, she saw her torn and tattered simple black kimono. It was completely torn away to reach her mid thigh. It was torn open at her shoulder and abdomen below the red obi that tied it. There was dried blood at the tears, but smooth skin was the only thing that showed. Her feet were dirty with ash and mud. She brought her eyes back up to the scene before her.

Her feet started to carry her forward without any direction. She made her way to the edge of the village. The snow was falling heavily beyond the heat of the village. The wind caused high drifts of snow with the flakes whipping angrily in circles.

"Blizzard," came the quiet word from her lips. She didn't know how she knew that. Her mind didn't linger on it long as her feet continued to carry her forward. She hardly felt the cold around her. She didn't know where her feet were taking her. They moved on their own as she walked deeper into the white night.

She wasn't sure how long she had been walking. She knew she could no longer feel the heat of the flames from the village, or hear the crackling of flame as it licked at flesh and wood. She wasn't sure if the smell of burning flesh was still close or if it had burned into her nose. The only thing she saw around her was white. Despite the whipping wind around her it was quiet. The snow beneath her feet pillowed her steps into silence.

Soon a large form began to appear before her. Her feet continued to carry her to it. The shape grew clearer. It was a tree reaching higher than she could see through the white and gray of the snow. Its thin branches bent towards the ground, brushing the ground. She could see through the thin branches to the trunk of the tree where no snow was able to fall. She pushed her way through the branches, snow falling around her that she disturbed. As she reached the trunk, the dirt below her was frozen. She touched the bark of the tree. Her eyes fell on the claws at the ends of her fingers. There was soot mixed with blood caked to them. She turned her eyes back to the tree and traced them up the trunk.

Her instict wanted her to climb the tree to a branch and rest. But she knew the branches of the willow were too weak to hold her. She turned her back to the willow and pressed her back to it. Sliding down to the base of the tree, she brought her knees to her chin and wrapped her arms around them. She watched blankly as a tail came around and curled around her left leg. Her tail, she realized.

She lifted her gaze out to the storm through the low hanging branches. As her breath left her mouth she could see it rise and disappear. The storm showed no signs of lifting.

_Where am I?_ Her mind wandered as watched the storm around her. Trying to sift through her brain was useless. All she knew was the first thing she remembered was the burning village. Her claws didn't smell of human blood. She took that as she wasn't the one who destroyed it. She knew she was cold. The freezing temperature was starting to sink into her skin making her bones hurt, yet she wasn't shivering. She rested her forehead on her knees and closed her eyes.

Choppy memories flooded her vision. Women screaming over the dead bodies of their children. Clashing of swords and the smell of blood. Fire. So much fire.

Her eyes flew open as a sharp pain assaulted the left side of her neck. Her claws flew up to clutch it. There was nothing there. She bit her lip as she tried to remember, drawing blood from her fangs sinking into the weak skin. She gently probed at the fangs with her tongue as she stared down at her feet.

_Who am I?_

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><p>Well, first I must say that this is my first try at a Sesshomaru story. And that this is my first try at a third person prospective, so it isn't exactly as good as I wanted it to be, but hey. A little practice and it'll all be good. I hope I lived up to expectations.<p>

I know it's short, but leave a review and let me know what you think!


	2. Koneko

I do not own Inuyasha. Only my own OC's that I create along the way.

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><p>Her ears twitched at the sound of approaching feet. Raising from where she slept, she pulled her knees to her. The snow had weakened but had yet to fully stop falling. Dawn was starting to approach, turning the sky a dark hazy gray. Her attention turned back to the foot steps. A hunched over figure was beginning to appear through the haze. She watched it closely, drawing her knees close to her chest. The figure as at the edge of the swooping branches of the willow before it noticed her. She could smell the figure now.<p>

She knew the smell. She tried to remember how she knew it, but nothing came. Her memory was blank. The figure had started to make its way to her, pushing its way through the branches. Trying to make herself appear smaller, she curled into herself pressing herself against the tree. The knew the scent. It terrified her that she couldn't place it. Her body was screaming danger at her, but she knew of no way to defend herself.

"Well, if it isn't just a little neko," a kind voice reached her ears. She slowly lifted her eyes to the figure. It was an old man. "What odd coloring for a neko though," he mused. "You have the coloring of the fox cubs that scamper around here in the spring." He glanced her over with his warm brown eyes. "Quite filthy for a neko, too.." he murmured.

She quickly took in his appearance. His skin was tanned and wrinkled. His hair was dark gray as if it had just fully turned gray from black, and pulled back to the crown of his head. He was dressed in many layers to protect him from the freezing wind. She scented the air again. _A human_, her mind whispered to her. She knew the scent because he was human. The fear eased in her chest, but didn't fully dissipate.

"What are you doing out here in the cold by yourself?" he asked gently.

"..I don't know," she answered after a moment. He wasn't expecting her answer, she could tell. He glanced around quickly pursing his lips.

"My village isn't too far from here," he said, adjusting the sack over his shoulder. It looked heavy. "You can come with me if you wish." She blinked at him slowly. Something told her that this wasn't a normal occurrence. "I may be but a farmer, but my spiritual power is stronger than your average human," he offered with a smile. "I can sense that you need help, and a confusion to your soul. Now don't make an old man feel guilty about leaving you out here by yourself."

Her tail twitched. She realized she wanted to go with him. Slowly, she pulled herself up from the ground as if unsure of her own body. He nodded with a smile.

"This way," he said, leading her away from her tree. Relief began washing over her as she followed the old man. Maybe he knew something about her, or tell her where to go to find out. If not then it was okay. She was just relieved that she wasn't alone in the snow.

They walked in silence with her a few paces behind him. Though she was relieved to not be alone something deep in the back of her mind told her that she shouldn't fully trust humans. When she tried to remember why, she could think of nothing. Was he different from her? She knew she had a tail, and he did not that she could see. He had no fangs or claws. What was she? He called her a neko. Who was she? She honestly had no idea. Why couldn't she remember anything? What happened to that village? What happened before?

The snow had finally lifted. The sun had risen behind the thick dark gray clouds. It was still cold, but she was thankful that the wind had subsided at the snow had stopped falling. She wondered to herself how she hadn't frozen to death before the old man found her. He was dressed in many layers containing fur of a different assortment of animals and thick hide boots. She was simply wearing a thin and tattered kimono.

The old man suddenly stopped in front of her and dropped the sack he was carrying over his shoulder to the ground with a huff. He wiped at his forehead with another sigh.

"I've been traveling for an entire day and night now," he said sounding apologetic. "My wife must be so worried," he murmured to himself though her ears twitched at his words. Her eyes fell on the twine sack. She approached the few feet to him and gently took the sack from his hands, earning a confused look. With little effort she lifted the sack over her shoulder.

"Then let's not keep her waiting," she said softly.

The old mans confused expression turned into one of gratitude. He smiled brightly at her. They set off towards the village again. This time she walked next to him. She took this opportunity to really look at the old man through the corner of her eye. His skin looked worn. If he wasn't hunched over he would have been taller than her. His eyes were still warm and youthful though.

They walked for a while longer before the village appeared before them. Unease settled in her stomach once again as they walked through the snow covered village. She could feel the other villagers staring at her. They were whispering.

"_Why does he have a youkai with him?"_

"_Is she going to slaughter us?"_

"_That fool Ichiro bringing that youkai here."_

"_She's covered in blood! Who knows what she'll do to us!"_

"Almost there," the old man said, startling her. He chucked at her. "It will do you good to pay no mind to them," he said kindly. "I can sense that you mean us no harm." She pursed her lips and kept her head down as she followed after him, wanting as quickly as possible to be away from their stares and whispers.

Soon they reached the opposite side of the village where a small wooden home was built. It wasn't large, but it wasn't exceptionally small. As they approached the home, a smile reached the old mans face.

"Emiko!" he called before entering the home.

She paused before following after him, sliding the door shut behind her. She was immediately greeted with the warmth of a fire.

"Ichiro?" a voice answered. An old woman appeared to their right through a doorway bringing the smell of fish with her. She had an equally bright smile on her face as the old man. Her hair was a pale white and pulled back into a low knot with a cloth wrapped around the top of her head. She held herself with the same hunch as the old man. The old woman had black eyes that had a sparkle to them. Those same black eyes then fell on the girl standing off behind him. "Oh? Who is this?" she asked, taken back.

The old man turned his gaze back to the neko. "I came across her sleeping at the base of a tree on my travel home. I could sense that she was confused and needed help."

The old woman turned her husbands words over in her mind and after a moment nodded. The old man took the sack from her struggling with it and placed it on the ground.

"Do you have a name, child?" the old woman asked.

"Name?" she echoed back. She shifted on her feet uncomfortably. "I..I don't know. I'm sorry."

"Well, dear, my name is Emiko," the old woman smiled, kindly.

"And I am Ichiro," the old man spoke as he began pulling off his heavy layers.

"Come with me, child. Lets get you cleaned up. I'm sure a neko such as yourself is dying to be clean," Emiko said, pulling her away from the door. As Emiko said it, she suddenly felt filthy. She needed to be clean. Her skin started to itch with the mud and ash. She let Emiko lead her to a small hut away from the house. "I had this water prepared for Ichiro for when he returned, but I do believe you are in more of a need for it," she explained as she let her into the small hut. There was a large wooden bath in the middle of the room. "Go ahead and get undressed. I'll gather some wood to heat it."

She glanced at the old woman as she moved to one of the corners of the hut. She untied the obi and dropped it to the ground and her thin kimono followed soon after. She moved towards the water and stepped in one foot.

"Ah, no! That water is fre..ezing," Emiko began to exclaim, but her words trailed off. As the girl stepped into the water, it heated. Steam began rising as the girl sat in the water. Emiko dropped the wood back to the ground as she approached the girl with surprise written over her face. She sat on her knees next to the bath and the girl blinked at her.

"It feels warm to me," she said quietly.

"Yes," Emiko smiled kindly. "I suppose it does." She watched as the girl began to try and wash away the mud and ash caked to her hands and arms. "Do you need help?" she asked. The girl paused before she answered with a nod.

Emiko stood to gather the soaps and oils that were gathered on a shelf on one of the walls. She returned to the girl and sat behind her. The old woman noticed a hair comb that was knotted into the girls hair. Her hands worked to pull it from the knots without yanking on her hair which took an effort. Once she freed it from the girls hair, she took a moment to take in its appearance. It was a dark red wood with multiple small red gemstones set into the wood. She sat it off to the side and took to work washing the dirt and ash from the tangles of hair.

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><p>It took a while for her to fully get clean. But when she finally did she felt wonderful. Emiko had gone to fetch her something to wear that wasn't torn and bloody. After dressing and entering back into the home, she sat close to the fire, craving its warmth.<p>

Emiko and Ichiro were discussing something in the other room but she payed no mind to their conversation. She was busy taking in her surroundings of the room. The old couple didn't have much, but it was cozy. Her eyes fell on something hanging on the wall. She stood from her spot on the floor and walked over to it curiously.

She was startled at the girl staring back at her and ducked away from the mirror. After waiting a moment, she eased back to the piece on the wall and saw the same girl staring back at her. _Its me_ she realized. She hadn't realized that she had even forgotten what she looked like. Her hair was a deep read and hung to the back of her thighs with loose waves giving it a messy appearance. Her bangs would have fallen in her face if she hadn't pushed them to the side. On the top of her head sat two cat ears that matched the same deep red as her tail and hair. Her skin was much paler than Ichiro and Emiko's skin. Her eyes were pale gray, the same gray color as the ash that stuck to her skin. She realized then why she was different from the other villagers and the old couple. She was a youkai. They were human.

"Child?" Emiko called causing her to jump. "Won't you come here for a moment?"

She padded towards Emiko's voice and sat on her knees at the table they were sitting at. On the table sat three fish, rice, and a stew. Ichiro sat to her right and Emiko sat to her left.

"We know that Youkai don't normally eat human food, but we thought perhaps you would be hungry," Ichiro said with a smile.

She scented the air the smell of fish causing her stomach to rumble. She blushed and lowered her eyes to her hands. The old couple laughed heartily drawing a darker blush to her cheeks. Ichiro placed one of the fish on one of the small plates in front of her.

As the day turned to evening the snow had started to lightly fall again. The old couple had become to seem restless as Ichiro kept looking outside towards the field behind their home.

"Ichiro-san," she spoke up quietly as he glanced outside once again and slid the door shut after a moment. "Why do you keep looking outside?" He sighed as he sat down next to his wife who was currently attempting to patch up her black kimono. His eyes suddenly grew weary.

"For the past few weeks there has been a demon that has come and continually raided and brought destruction to some part of the village. I had been traveling to in hopes find a demon slayer but my travels proved fruitless. I heard from passing travelers that the demon slayer village had long since been destroyed and abandoned."

"Is that why the other villagers are scared of me?" she questioned.

"Dear, there are many things that ordinary humans are afraid of," Emiko answered. "Simply because our village is being raided by another youkai doesn't mean that it's the reason they fear you. They fear things they don't understand."

Emiko began to tell her many stories of humans that have been harmed by evil youkai. She listened intently of the stories about wars and famine over the centuries. She learned that many humans fear youkai on sight. Though there are many youkai who are evil and feast on human flesh, there are still a few good youkai. The good youkai keep away from humans for fear of ambush, so many humans don't realize that good youkai do exist.

"That's how I knew you were one of the good ones," Ichiro explained with a small smile. "You feared me, an old man, when I approached you."

Before she could answer shouts came from the night. She shot to her feet and ran outside facing the village. Ichiro and Emiko were close behind her.

"The youkai has returned!" the girls sensitive ears picked up from the village. Before she could think her feet left the porch of the house and into the snow. She ran towards the village and she ran the opposite direction of where the villagers were running.

She came face to face with a large ogre. Its skin was the color of clay and stood as tall as her willow tree. It was standing over a small child who was screaming and crying for his mother. He started to reach for the child.

"Leave him alone," she yelled at him. Its glowing yellow gaze fell on her and a cackle erupted from its throat.

"Oh, what's this? A little neko youkai?" the ogres voice boomed. "And what are you planning on doing? Scratching me to death?" It cackled again.

"Leave and don't come back. Before I kill you," she hissed. She glared up at it. Heat started to tingle at her finger tips. The child still laid at the feet of the ogre sobbing uncontrollably.

"Why don't you make me, neko?" It smiled down at her with its yellow decaying teeth.

She leapt into the air, startling the ogre. Her claws raked across his eyes, scorching his face. He roared in anger at her, and she sprinted some yards away to lead it away from the village. The ogre followed after her, his heavy steps causing the ground to rumble. She turned to face it as it's fist came down. She jumped into the air. She landed on his arm. Her feet carried her up the length of his arm before he could fling her away. She took another swipe at his face with her claws. He knocked her away with his large hand slamming her into the ground. With a hiss of pain, she pulled herself up off the ground and bounded back away from another fist. One of his eyes was a bloody scorched mess. The smell of burnt skin filled her nose as she took another leap at the ogre.

The heat in her finger tips engulfed her entire hands. She didn't take the time to look as she swung her palm out while in mid air. Flames shot out from her hand engulfing the top half of the ogre in flames. It screeched in pain as it fell to the ground trying to extinguish it in the snow as she landed on her feet with her back to the village. The fire was unrelenting as the ogres screams became silent and the flames died away.

She stared down at her hands. How did she do that? She gave one last glance do the dead ogre and turned back to the village. She got angry, she realized. That must have caused it. Her mind wandered to the bath and how she heated the water by just touching it. She may have been a neko youkai, but she had control over fire. The flames came as second nature to her. She had no idea how she had called on the flames but they came when she needed them. She tried to focus and bring the heat in her finger tips again but nothing happened. She clenched her fists in front of her and grit her teeth.

Who was she? What was she? Where did she come from?

The child was still crying when she entered the village. She approached the sobbing child and kneeled down in front of him. He looked up at her with bleary brown eyes.

"Are you okay?" she asked gently.

"Thank you!" he sobbed throwing himself against her and wrapping his arms around her. She blinked down at the boy who was sobbing against her stomach. After a moment she wrapped her arms around him.

"Eito?!" a womans voice called through the night. Soon after, a frazzled woman was before the two.

"Mommy!" the boy answered scrambling to her arms. The boy's mother picked him up and clutched him tightly to her, tears of relief and joy flowing freely.

"Who are you, neko?" another villager asked. The once fleeing villagers had returned and were staring at the girl who had killed the youkai

Before she could speak another voice answered for her.

"Koneko," Ichiro spoke appearing through the crowd with a smile. "Its our Koneko."

She blinked up at the old man. She returned the smile. She had a name. She was their Koneko. Their kitten.

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><p>A lot of dialogue in this one! I hope it didn't dabble on too long.<p>

Thank you to the guest and **RedSombrero **for their reviews!

Please review and let me know what you think!


	3. The Hanyou

After Koneko had slain the ogre, the village welcomed her with open arms. After refusing payment, the village held a celebration for her though she did not attend. The crowd made her uncomfortable. Ichiro assured her that there was enough sake being passed around and no one would notice her absence. That night she stuck to the trees of the area surrounding the village.

Koneko took it upon herself to watch over the village. Through the first few weeks she lived in the human village a small number of youkai all tried to invade the village. Each time she disposed of them, or sent them running to never return. But she was never able to call on the flames again. She spent many hours in the woods attempting to bring back the tingling heat to her finger tips but never succeeded. The only tingling she ever got was when she put her hands to sleep from holding them out in front of herself for too long.

Along with the demons that had tried to attack the village, word had spread of a neko woman protecting the village. It was mid-winter when the first youkai arrived looking for a place to rest without fear. Koneko had almost attacked the lynx youkai when he bowed and pressed his forehead to the ground.

"_Please don't kill me!" _he begged. _"I simply want a place to rest without fear of attack! I mean no ill harm!"_

Soon after more youkai began to arrive. The village became a sanctuary for youkai and humans alike. The human villagers were skeptical at first to allow youkai around their women and children. Koneko would hear nothing of it. The villagers began to realize the help that the demons could bring. Water and earth elementals were able to help with the farming and fishing. Youkai who were able to fly were able to help hunt and feed the village. The village had begun to prosper in one short winter.

That was how that winter passed. Any evil youkai who tried to attack the village was quickly killed or sent away by the good youkai who lived there. Soon, there were no attacks at all.

When the winter had melted into spring Koneko would sit on the porch of the house and watch as the sun rose over the horizon of fields. Ichiro and Emiko loved the neko girl and had begun calling her their daughter. She liked that. This place was her home. Her family. Memories from beyond the burning village never came back to her, though on the nights she chose to sleep her dreams were plagued with death and fire. She never told anyone about those dreams. She never told anyone about the burning village that she first remembered. She didn't want Ichiro and Emiko to start thinking that she had been an evil demon all along.

One morning as the sun was rising Ichiro joined her. He let out a groan as he sat down.

"I'm getting too old to be so nimble," he joked to her.

She smiled at the old man as he ruffled her hair in between her ears. She wore her black kimono and red obi that she had worn the day Ichiro found her at the base of her willow tree. Emiko had long since repaired it to make it look new all though there was nothing she could do about the length that had been cut. She had sewn the tattered ends to a hem that hit her upper thigh. It was shorter than her hair was long. The neko didn't like the length at first but soon wouldn't wear anything else because it gave her plenty of freedom to run and climb the highest of trees to bathe in the sun.

The old man sat next to her in silence for a while. When the sun started to appear over the horizon she cast her eyes to him and saw the troubled look in his eyes.

"What is troubling you, otousan?" she asked quietly.

He let out a huff and scratched at his hair which fell loose around his chin.

"Koneko," he began but fell short with another huff. She waited for him to continue. She didn't want to pressure him. "I know that you have no memory from before when I found you. If you feel the need to leave and go figure that out.." he trailed off.

"Where did this come from?" she questioned.

"Well, I know if it were me in your position I would want to know," he explained. "I don't want you to feel that you need to stick around here for us old folk if you want to leave for a while as long as you promise to come back every now and then."

She took her time answering. "I do want to," she finally said. Ichiro had to strain to hear her voice. She always spoke quietly and trying to hear her over the noise of the waking village was difficult. "But it doesn't matter. I don't know where to begin. None of the youkai who have come to this village have known who I am or have any idea where I came from. Why set out on a useless travel? This village is my home. It's all that I know," she turned her eyes to him. "I appreciate your concern otousan, but I'll be okay."

He nodded at her answer. It was a sound argument.

"Koneko-chan!" a young voice called out. She turned her attention to the noise of a group of children running towards her. "Can you play with us today?" a small girl asked, trying to catch her breath.

Koneko placed one of her clawed fingers to her chin, feigning thought and glancing away. "But we played so much yesterday.."

"Please?" the girl begged with large eyes.

Without warning, Koneko reached out for the girl in the blink of an eye and began tickling her, erupting laughter from all the children. Koneko bounded off the porch and away from the children her own laughter mixing with theirs.

Ichiro watched his adoptive daughter with a twinkle in his eye. Emiko soon joined him on the porch.

"What did she say, dear?" she asked, chuckling as she watched the neko let the children grab her and pull her down to the ground in a fit of laughter.

"I think she'll be staying for a long while," was his only reply.

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><p>The morning soon became afternoon. After she had walked all the children home to their awaiting parents she decided to take a walk through the village. So much had changed since she had first come to the small village. When she first arrived it was poor and run down. After so many good youkai had come, it turned into quite a sight to see. She figured it was one of the richest villages around. Not that she had any memory to go off of.<p>

People greeted her with smiles and hellos as she passed by. She returned every greeting with a nod and a smile. She loved this village and it's people. If she never found answers as to who she used to be, she would probably be okay with it.

But she did still want to know.

She reached the edge of the village and leapt up into a tree. She sat in its branches, leaning back against the trunk. She wanted to know what happened to that burning village and if she had anything to do with it. Her stomach knotted at the thought. She hoped she had nothing to do with it. She stared down at her hands in her lap willing the warm tingle to appear. But of course, nothing happened.

She sighed and rested her head against the trunk of the tree. She closed her eyes to enjoy the last few rays of sunshine before it sunk below the horizon when she felt a prick of energy. Her eyes snapped open, fully alert. Focusing on the energy she rose to her feet. In the distance she could see a group of people, five and a small animal to be exact, approaching the village.

She jumped out of the tree and her feet carried her as fast as they could to the group.

"Who are you?" she demanded, sliding to a stop in front of them. One of the humans came out in front of them with her hands in the air.

"We were just looking for a place to stay for the night," she offered with a smile. She was dressed oddly. Koneko took in their appearance. Two demons, including a two tailed cat, and three humans. The boy who stood just off to the side of the girl who spoke..was different. He had long silver hair, a pair of golden eyes and dog ears on the top of his head. He didn't smell like a youkai. But he didn't smell like a human.

Koneko realized she had startled them. She scented the air and pressed her own aura against theirs. She could sense no evil from them.

"Just who do you think you are, running up here and demanding to know who we are?" the silver haired boy snapped.

"Inuyasha," the small demon glared up at him. "Be nice. Unlike you, we want to sleep under a roof tonight." The silver haired boy grumbled under his breath.

"I apologize," she said, giving a slight bow. "We have no Inn. We don't get many travelers. But you may stay with my family if you wish."

"Really?" the other woman spoke up. "That would be wonderful. Thank you!"

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><p>"Wow, I can't believe a place like this actually exists," the monk said as Koneko led the group through the village to her home. "Humans and youkai living and working together.."<p>

"It is possible," Koneko responded. "So long as neither have ill intent towards each other harmony is possible."

"Astounding," he marveled.

The group behind her chatted back and forth but she payed no mind. Emiko would be thrilled to have guests. She always loved hearing about stories that travelers had of far away lands. Koneko almost wished that they got more travelers. But it would mean so much more work to try and sort through who came into the village.

"Okaasan!" Koneko called out as they approached her home. "I brought home guests!"

Emiko appeared on the porch. She paused and smiled. "Why, yes you did. Quite a few. Please, come in. I was just about to prepare dinner."

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><p>"So you protect this entire village by yourself, Koneko?" Kagome asked. They were all eating the meal Emiko prepared.<p>

"I get help every now and then from the other youkai of the village. But usually, yes," Koneko responded with a nod. She sat away from the group, leaning against the wall.

"Koneko was our saving grace," Ichiro said, beaming with pride.

"Yes, I can see why," the monk, Miroku, replied, earning a hard look from Ichiro. Koneko smiled at the thought. Miroku had just asked her to have his children and Ichiro had come to her rescue giving the monk an onslaught of violent threats that Koneko didn't know Ichiro had in him. Emiko thought it was quite funny.

Koneko watched the group from her spot next to the fire. A monk, a demon slayer, a priestess, a fox youkai..her eyes fell on the silver haired man named Inuyasha. He didn't smell..right. He didn't smell necessarily _bad_ but he didn't smell right. She knew he wasn't human. His ears and coloring told her that. But he didn't smell of youkai. She knew her hearing and eye sight were much better than her nose. Her nose was still something to reckon with though.

"You got something you wanna say?" Inuyasha snapped, interrupting her chain of thought.

"Inuyasha!" The priestess, Kagome, exclaimed glaring at him.

"What? She's over there staring at me like she's got something to say!" he defended himself.

"What are you?" Koneko asked before Kagome could reply. "I can't figure it out. I apologize for staring."

The room fell silent. Ichiro and Emiko both shifted where they sat glancing in between the neko and themselves. The group of travelers looked surprised more than anything. Their gaze shifted from the woman to Inuyasha.

"Inuyasha is a hanyou," the young youkai, Shippo, answered finally.

"A..hanyou?" Koneko blinked slowly as she repeated the word. That would explain why she couldn't smell either human or youkai on him. He was a mixture of both. "I apologize for staring again," she gave a kind smile. "I didn't know."

"You mean you couldn't tell?" The demon slayer, Sango, asked surprised. "Every youkai we've run into can tell."

"Koneko has no memory of her life before she came here a few months ago," Ichiro explained. "She's still learning everything again. She may have been able to tell once before but.." he trailed off.

It was Koneko who shifted uncomfortably then. No one besides Ichiro and Emiko knew that secret. Not even the villagers knew. She wanted no one to fear her.

She felt a small sharp bite on her cheek and slapped the spot before anyone could speak. She pulled her hand away and saw a small flea youkai crushed flat in her hand. Her mind started to panic that she had killed an innocent youkai when he returned to his normal shape.

"Yes, I was beginning to wonder what a Kajineko was doing here," the flea spoke while crossing his arms and sitting in her hand. "Such delicious blood, but so rare to come across."

Koneko felt her heart quicken.

"You know who I am?" she asked excitedly. She felt her twitch in anticipation for his answer. Her tail flicked happily behind her.

"Unfortunately, no," he sighed. With his words her ears and tail fell sadly.

"Where have you been at Myoga?" Inuyasha asked now squatting down in front of her and eyeing the little youkai in her hand.

"Why, hiding of course! You would too if you knew anything about the Kajineko" he shouted up at the larger demon. "The Kajineko are as powerful as your father was!" Myoga turned his attention back to Koneko. "Yet, your demonic energy is less than half of what it should be.."

"Tell us what you do know," Emiko said.

"Well, its not much.." the flea said, closing his eyes. "The Kajineko are a race of neko youkai who have full control over the element of fire. Their powers are a force that many have not lived to tell about. They normally live in hiding, keeping away from any who seek their power."

"So you wouldn't be able to tell me where to find any," Koneko said quietly, her ears still pressed sadly to her head.

"No..but, I know someone who might.." Konekos' ears perked back up. The flea turned to face Inuyasha who still was squatting in front of her. "Your father signed a treaty with the Kajineko almost four centuries ago. They are allies."

"Yeah, but he's dead. What good is that gonna do?" Inuyasha huffed.

"Because Sesshomaru may know!" Miroku answered for the little youkai.

"Feh," Inuyasha stood, crossing his arms and turning away from the neko. "Like he'd help anyone."

"Please!" Koneko exclaimed, quickly standing. She clenched her hands at her side and bowed her head to him, "Please, can you take me to him? I know that I do not know you well, and that you do not know me and you owe me no favors, but I.." she clenched her eyes. "I have no idea who I am or where I came from. My only memory before this place was another village that I was standing in that had been burned down and torn apart. Every villager was dead and I don't know what happened. I don't know if it was me who burned down the village or if I had tried to protect it.

Do you know what it's like to not have any memories of who you are? I don't even know my real name. I have been able to use my powers only once and I haven't been able to call the flames since. I love my Okaasan and my Otousan and this village, I do! But I don't belong here! I need to find where I belong-"

"Stop," Inuyasha said firmly. She pursed her lips and lifted her head. He still wasn't facing her. "We'll take you to him. But don't get your hopes up. We'll leave in the morning."

She blinked at him. A smile crept to her face.

"Thank you," she said, her voice returning to its quiet volume.

He scoffed and walked away, leaving the small house.

* * *

><p>"Okaasan?"<p>

It was well past the time that the travelers had gone to sleep. Koneko was sitting on the porch of the home, staring up at the star filled sky when Emiko had slid the door open behind her. The old woman sat next to her.

"You know you will always belong here," Emiko said, giving her a gentle smile.

"I'm sorry I said that," Koneko apologized, wrapping her arms around her knees. "I don't know why I said it."

"Hush, child," the old woman responded patting the neko on her head in between her ears. "I wanted to give you something before you leave."

Koneko turned her eyes to the old woman as she pulled something out of her obi. It was a hair comb. It was made of wood that was colored a deep red that matched her hair. The wood held six small red gemstones. They sparkled in the moon light.

"You had this in your hair the day you came here," Emiko explained. "I was going to give it back to you when you got your memories back. But I think you should have it before you leave."

Koneko didn't day anything as the woman pulled her hair to one side of her neck and rolled her long hair into a bun. She tucked the comb into it to keep it in place. Koneko reached her hand up to touch the wood.

"Thank you, Okaasan," she whispered. "I promise to come back soon. It doesn't matter who I am if I get my memories back. I'll always be your Koneko."

The old woman wrapped her arms around the neko and she returned the embrace. The old woman stood and bid the woman good night and returned inside the home.

Konekos' mind wandered as she stared up at the sky. Who was this Sesshomaru?

* * *

><p>And the plot begins to move forward.<p>

Thank you to **RedSombrero **for your review!

What do you think our Ice Prince is going to do when he meets our little Koneko?

Please leave a review and let me know what you think!


	4. Saying Goodbye

"The children will be so sad to hear that you've left," Ichiro sighed, scratching at his head.

The next morning, the travelers were ready to get back on the road early. Koneko was thankful for this because she knew it would only be a little while longer before the children came to drag her out to play with them. She didn't want to have to explain to them that she was leaving or why she was leaving.

"Tell them I'll be back soon," Koneko said, hugging the old man. "Goodbye Otousan."

"You be good for those travelers," he sighed.

Emiko hugged her after Ichiro released her. She patted Koneko on her cheek. Koneko could see that she was trying to hold back tears.

"I'll be back soon, Okaasan. Please don't be sad," she assured the old woman. Emiko nodded and gave her a smile.

"Please be safe."

"Would you hurry up and come on?" Inuyasha called to her. "Sesshomaru isn't exactly the easiest person to find so I'd like to get a move on it!"

Koneko payed no attention to them as Kagome started yelling at him. Giving the old couple one last wave, she leapt off the porch and landed next to Inuyasha. He scoffed at her.

"Let's go."

Koneko hung towards the back of the group as they walked. She never ventured far from the village. She always needed to be near in case a rouge youkai attacked. She already missed the village. The children would be sad about her leaving, but she promised to Emiko and Ichiro that she would be back soon. And she meant to keep that promise.

For now the village was going to be protected by the other good youkai that lived there. She knew that with as many as there were they would be able to handle it. But still. She would miss them. Her first memories since the burning village were always warm. Emiko and Ichiro were graciously kind people who loved each other. They were never able to have children. It hurt Konekos heart to know that Emiko was never a mother. She was kind and gentle. Ichiro would have been a wonderful father as well. He was hard working, spending most of his days out in the fields to provide for his wife. She was certain he would have done the same for his children.

Perhaps that's why the old couple was so welcoming of her. When Ichiro first found her she was like a small child. She needed help with the most basic skills. She had to be taught how to hold chop sticks and how to (successfully) use them, Emiko had to help her bathe the first few times and brush her long hair. She had to be taught how to dress and how to hold a full conversation. The couple had taken her in with no reservations. They wanted to help her. She would be forever grateful to them.

As she traveled with the group she learned of their adventure. All of them besides Inuyasha were thrilled to have a new companion with them. Koneko realized it wasn't because he didn't like her. She got the feeling that Inuyasha wasn't keen on letting everyone know what he was thinking.

Kagome told her of the sacred jewel and how it shattered. Now they were searching for the shards in order to find them before the evil youkai Naraku found them. Koneko was fascinated to hear about Kagomes world through the bone eaters well. About her "school" and medicine. How there were giant markets that you could go and buy every supplies you ever needed. You never had to travel long distances to get a necessary supply to live. There were millions of people who lived in her village. Koneko wished she could see this Tokyo, but the well only worked for herself and Inuyasha.

The group traveled through the day without many rests. Towards the evening they settled down in a curve of the path. They explained to her that it may take a few days before they even came across a sign that Sesshomaru had been around or before Inuyasha picked up on his scent.

Koneko stuck to the trees as they gathered around the fire. Kagome was showing them a "card game" as she called it. Koneko was more interested in exploring the area. She stuck to the highest of branches from the highest of trees as she jumped from branch to branch. Her feet carried her in a large circle around the group. There weren't many other youkai around. Only a few weak ones that were sleeping in roots and holes of the trees and dirt.

Although she missed her village, she was excited to explore freely. She could return home with plenty of stories to tell the children and her Okaasan and Otousan. Even if she found no answers at least she wouldn't come back empty handed.

Once her need for exploration was sated she headed back to the group. She bounded through the trees effortlessly, her balance keeping her from tripping. She landed with a quiet thump on the ground as she reached them.

"Spit it out!" Inuyasha was yelling at his hand. "Tell me and you can suck as much of Kagome's blood as you want!"

"I'm not a blood bank, you know!" she shouted up at the hanyou.

Koneko approached the group as she heard Myoga speak.

"Look, this is no time for telling jokes, I'm afraid. You must go immediately to the cave of the bat youkai," the flea said seriously.

"Cave of the bat youkai?" Kagome repeated slowly.

Koneko sat at the fire, her tail twitching behind her. She listened as Myoga explained of a cave on the western shore that's protected by a barrier. He told of a clan of bat youkai who held the power of the barrier and passed it down through the generations.

"The current guardian youkai must be slain. In other words, you must kill the guardian youkai and let Tessaiga drink its blood."

Koneko listened to the conversation silently. Inuyashas' hand came to rest on the hilt of his sword. _That must be Tessaiga _she thought to herself.

"By killing such a strong youkai the sword will absorb the bat youkai's power," Miroku said, his brows drawn together. He sat next to Sango who's expression was just as tight as his.

"And that would make the sword much stronger," she finished for him.

"Yes, exactly," Myoga responded from his position on Kagome's neck. Koneko didn't even see him move. "Now, Kagome! About our little deal-"

He was cut off as she slapped her hand down on him. Irritation was written all over her face. Koneko's ears twitched at the sound of the small painful groan that came from under her hand.

"Alright, what are we waiting for?!" Inuyasha exclaimed, rising to his feet, excitedly. He stood with a determined look in his eyes. "Time to go demon hunting! I'm in if that's all it takes to make my sword stronger! I'll kill a thousand of them if I have to!" He clenched the hilt of his sword as if willing the sword to get stronger simply from his excitement.

The group started to gather up their things. Koneko helped as much as she could. She wasn't sure who's was what and where it went. Kagome thanked her as she lifted the heavy yellow pack for her.

"I'm sure we'll find a trace of Sesshomaru soon," she assured the neko.

Koneko gave the miko a smile. "It's alright," she said. "I'll help you all as much as I can for taking me to him. But I must ask," she said, adjusting the pack on her shoulder as a lone racoon dog wandered into the camp and up to the monk. "What exactly does Inuyasha need a barrier breaking sword for?"

As the racoon dog transformed into a shape of a gourd, Kagome explained to her the rest of the story about Naraku and his barrier. Koneko listened intently as they loaded the bike and the heavy pack onto the now floating racoon dog.

They flew through the sky until morning before they reached the small village on the coast. She tried to not let it show that she was disappointed that they hadn't seen any signs of this Sesshomaru.

_It's only been two days_ she told herself. _Inuyasha said that he was hard to find._

Her mind was quickly distracted as they approached the coast line. When it was a safe enough distance for her to jump, she leapt off the racoon dog, who's name she learned was Hachi, and landed in the warm sand. The smell of salt filled her nose as the water lapped at the shore line. Something in the back of her mind told her that she had seen the coast before.

Following that light in her mind she tried to pull the memory forward. A sharp pain stabbed in the side of her neck. She grabbed at the spot as the others joined her on the sand. Shouting reached her ears as the group debated on which way to go.

Inuyasha noticed the perk in her ears.

"What is it?" he asked.

"I hear yelling. Something about the bat youkai still attacking the village," she said, focusing on the noise, trying to figure out which direction it was coming from. "This way!" she took off. Inuyasha kept with her pace. The others lagged behind but when the sound of a woman's painful cry reached her ears, she picked up her speed even more.

In a matter of a few moments a group of men carrying various farming and fishing tools filled her vision. A woman was laying on the ground, her kimono covered in sand.

Koneko ran passed them as one of the men tried to swing down on the woman. She grabbed the woman and pulled her away as she slid to her knees next to her. Inuyasha stood in between them, holding the spear away from the two women.

"What? Who are you? What are you doing?!"

"Are you okay?" Koneko asked the woman as she sat up.

"Ah..yes," she nodded.

The others joined them and stood around the two women.

"How dare you attack a defenseless woman!" Miroku scolded them with a glare in his eyes.

"How the hell would we know where the bat youkai cave is!" a different villager shouted at them. "Why don't you ask that lying wench!" he continued pointing at the black haired woman sitting next to her. "That traitor dares to call herself human, but she went to bed with one of the bat youkai and bore him a child!"

Koneko rested her hand on top of the womans next to her and gave her an assuring look. The woman grit her teeth and refused to look up at her or the villagers.

"Get lost," Inuyasha snapped at the villagers. "Before I make you."

The villagers glared at the woman once more before slowly making their way back to the homes lining the coast.

* * *

><p>"Why do you want to know the location of the bat youkai cave?" The woman, Shizu, asked. Shizu had invited them back to her small home after the villagers had left, in thanks of helping her. They sat in a small circle the little wooden shack, surrounding a fire. Koneko sat next to the woman, in between her and Miroku. Kagome had her medicine box out, bandaging the scrapes that Shizu had gotten from the scuffle.<p>

"Why else?" Inuyasha answered. "I'm going to destroy them."

"Inuyasha, hold on a minute," Miroku stopped him. "The villagers said you gave your child to the youkai. Exactly what did they mean by that?"

"For generations, this region has been a home and hunting grounds for the bat youkai," Shizu explained. "They're terrifying. Preying on humans and animals and feeding on their blood. But Tsukuyomaru was not like the others. My daughters father was different from the other youkai. He did not kill humans. And after Shiori was born the other youkai stopped attacking our village. I assume he convinced them to do so. Finally, our village was at peace."

"Was?" Koneko asked quietly.

"Shiori's father passed away," Shizu explained. "And then there was no one to stop them. Soon after, Shiori's grandfather, Taigokumaru, came to see me. He promised to leave our village alone if I gave him my daughter." She clenched her fists in her lap. Her eyes were bleary. "You see, he and Shiori's father were guardians of the barrier. The duty passed down through generations. As Tsukuyomaru's daughter, Shiroi had inherited his guardian power."

Inuyasha seemed startled. Koneko pursed her lips as she glanced at him. Was he going to kill an innocent child in order to make his sword stronger?

"But why did it have to be your daughter?" Sango asked. "If her grandfather had the guardian power already then how come.." she trailed off.

"Their power fades with age. And once the guardian passes on his duty he loses the power."

"In other words you're saying your daughter is the only one left who has the power to protect the barrier," Miroku stated.

Shizu didn't say a word as she stared down at her hands once again with a distant look in her eyes.

"I agonized over what to do, but in the end I have my daughter to Taigokumaru," she said finally.

"Pardon my asking," Miroku spoke up again. "But she is a hanyou, right?"

"How can a hanyou child have such power?" Inuyasha asked.

"I see you too are a hanyou," Shizu answered, turning her attention to him. "You should know better than anyone that hanyous are accepted by neither their youkai or human brethren."

Kagome nodded next to him for his answer.

"What do you think of this, Master Inuyasha?" Myoga asked from his shoulder.

"Dunno," he grumbled.

"Shiori had ample power to fulfill her duties. That's why I thought it to be for the best for her to be with them. Especially if it would save our village," Shizu clenched her fists tighter. "But the bat youkai didn't keep their word."

The group of travelers sat in silence for a few moments. The sound of the crackling fire was the only noise filling the small home.

"Take me there," Inuyasha said standing. "I want you to take me there. To the old man, what's his name. Alright?"

"We'll go with you," Kagome said as she began standing.

"No," he stopped her. "I can handle this alone."

"But.." she trailed off.

"I'm the only one who needs to see them."

The two left soon after. Koneko had no qualms with Inuyasha wanting to go on his own. But she worried about his intentions. She left the house without a word. She walked to the shore line and let the water wash over her feet. The reason they came to the village was for Inuyasha to be able to strengthen his sword. But would he do it if it entailed killing a small child? A hanyou like himself?

If he did, she wouldn't be able to bring herself to travel with them any longer. She would wish them luck on their journey and go off on her own to search for this elusive Sesshomaru. She would search for a while but if she found nothing she would return home and live in the peaceful village.

With a sigh she sat in the sand. She sat close enough to the water to let it continue washing over her feet. She focused on the salt water rising and falling from the shore. Her mind began wandering in no particular direction. She closed her eyes as a breeze came off the water, blowing her hair that had fallen out of the hair comb and around her face away from her eyes.

She heard the sound of children laughing in the distance. Opening her eyes, she looked to her right. There was a silhouette of two young girls running through the sand. Their laughter filled her ears. She squinted her eyes, but they still remained two darkened figures. One began to run towards her.

Before she came into view there was another sharp pain in her neck. Startling her, she shook her head and clutched at her neck again. When the pain subsided she looked back to the children, but they were gone.

* * *

><p>"It didn't work?" Kagome asked gently.<p>

They all were gathered back in Shizu's small home. Hachi slept in the corner. Night had since fallen before Inuyasha and Shizu returned empty handed. The look of frustration Inuyasha carried with him and the look of sadness Shizu had told Koneko that the girl was still with the bat youkai at the cave.

"I should give up," Shizu said sadly with her head hung.

"Are you sure?" Kagome asked, her face drawn.

"Taigokumaru spoke the truth about Shiori. The villagers didn't accept either of us. Maybe she's better off there.."

"Huh," Inuyasha scoffed, drawing everyone's attention. "You don't know anything." His eyes were closed with his arms and legs crossed. Koneko could feel the frustration pouring off of him. "Youkai never accept Hanyous. Even if they're related by blood."

"I'm a full blood youkai and I've never had any problems accepting you, Inuyasha," Shippo said, attempting to make the man feel better.

"That goes for me, too!" Myoga shouted as he hopped up and down to get his masters attention.

"That's only because I protect you," Inuyasha seethed, leaning down to them. They cowered away, but didn't say anything in return.

"Anyway, our hands are tied if you are unable to break through the barrier," Miroku said, interrupting their conversation.

"And that's precisely the reason we came here, right?" Sango asked, resting her hands on Kilala.

"Even I know that much," Inuyasha scoffed, turning his head away from them.

Koneko watched in silence. She was beginning to feel uneasy about the situation. She didn't know anything about this group. What if they really were going to kill an innocent child? What would she do?

* * *

><p>Koneko sat on the roof of Shizu's home. The others were beginning to try and settle down for the night, while Inuyasha disappeared into the night. She didn't need sleep unless she wanted to, so she let the others rest without disturbance. The moon reflected off the water, giving the village more light that usual for night time.<p>

Inuyasha seemed troubled when he left. She hoped silently that he was unsure about killing the child. She didn't want to be wrong about this group of travelers. She had let them stay in Emiko and Ichiro's home and stay in the village. She didn't want to have to explain to them that she was wrong about them. The villagers would never trust her again.

She started to lay back on the roof when she sensed an evil presence quickly approaching the village. She stood as she heard the sound of wings and laughter.

"It's the bat youkai," She heard Sango's voice below her.

She watched as the flock of large youkai flew towards the village. Her feet met the ground before she realized it, rushing towards the sleeping village. She heard Inuyasha behind her call something out to the others, but her mind was set.

She wouldn't let any innocent die.

* * *

><p>So. Much. Dialogue.<p>

I promise that every chapter won't be like this! Koneko doesn't talk very much, and neither does our Lord Sesshomaru! I don't like writing all this dialogue just like I'm sure a lot of you don't like reading it.

I've gone on a writing spree and I've already written all the way up to most of chapter six. I go back to work later this week and I wanted to be able to post regularly. I'm _hoping _that I can post twice a week though some weeks it may only be once.

Just a few more chapters until we meet Sesshomaru!

Thank you to **helene **and **ThreeDarkAngels** for your reviews! And thank you for all the favorites and follows!

Please leave a review and let me know what you think!


	5. The Bat Tribe

When she reached the village there were already bodies on the ground. She jumped into the air as one of the flying youkai tried to carry off a man. Her claws tore through his wing, causing him to cry out in pain. He dropped the villager and she caught him before he hit the ground, setting him safely on his feet.

"Run," she told him. He nodded quickly and ran away as she turned back to the wounded youkai. She dodged out of the way as another tried to dive at her.

"Hold it right there!" she heard Inuyasha's voice closing in. "_Iron Reaver!" _he called out, his claws glowing yellow. The youkai around her fell to the ground in pieces. He landed next to her and she gave him a nod of thanks.

"Old man, you won't get away with this!" he shouted at the largest youkai of the group.

Koneko followed his gaze and saw a young girl sitting in the hand of the youkai. She had silver hair that matched his, tanned skin and lilac colored eyes.

_Shiori _she whispered in her mind.

"You're becoming quite the nuisance," the youkai growled. He motioned with his free hand towards the two standing on the ground and a flock of the bats. Koneko jumped into the air, kicking one to the ground. She slashed at another's face. The one that hit the ground was beginning to recover. She fell back to the ground, landing with her feet firmly on the back of the youkai's head, smashing his face into the hard packed dirt.

A glowing pale pink arrow flew over head, purifying a few of the flock.

"Inuyasha! Koneko!" Kagome called out. Miroku, Shippo and Hachi were close behind her.

Miroku swung his staff at a few that flew at him, slicing them apart. Koneko jumped into the air, grabbing one that flew closely over head. Her claws sunk deeply into it's skin causing it to reel back and fling her back to the ground. She hit the ground and slid, landing on her side.

She scrambled to her feet and rushed to the group. They stood in a circle, their backs facing each other as they looked out into the flock that flew over head.

"About time," Inuyasha huffed. "What took you so long?" He paused. "How many of these things are there, do you think?" he asked.

"More than we could ever count," Kagome responded.

"Let me take a shot at them!" Sango's voice called out. She flew in on top of a transformed Kilala. "_Hiraikotsu!_" she threw her weapon cutting through a number of the youkai. The weapon continued to fly towards the large youkai holding Shiori, but was flung away with a red light as it hit the barrier coming from the young girl.

The weapon flew back to the demon slayer. The youkai merely laughed as she landed next to the others of the group.

"This isn't good," Miroku said, his voice hard. "And with Shiori around I can't even use my wind tunnel."

Koneko made a point to remind herself to ask what the wind tunnel was later.

"What's the matter? Can't you make a move?" the youkai cackled.

"Damn it all," Inuyasha huffed. "There has to be some way we can get Shiori out of the old youkais grip."

"Please, think of something!" a voice came from their left. Koneko's eyes fell on one of the villagers that had been attacking Shizu that morning. "All of our lives depend on you!"

"The bat youkai will slay all of us!" another added.

"You don't need to ask me for favors," Inuyasha scoffed. "I was gonna finish them off anyway. But first, I've got to get Shiori away from him."

Koneko let her eyes fall on Inuyasha. He had a determined look on his face to protect the girl. _Please_ she willed him. _Don't hurt her. _

"You can't!" one called out.

"Besides, that girl is on the youkai's side!" another said after.

"You want me to kill her, too then?" Inuyasha asked, darkly.

"Well..there's not much choice," the man answered, turning to the others that were with him.

"After all she is the child of a youkai," one of the others responded.

"How cruel," Kagome said, her eyes hard set on the men. "Shiori's mother sacrificed her for all these villagers here in order to save them from the youkai."

"Talk about being selfish," Shippo added from Miroku's shoulder.

"Did you hear that, Shiori?" Inuyasha called out to the girl. "What do you want to do?" The girl stared at him surprised. "You heard what these people said about you! Going back to the village might not be a good idea. Do you still want to go back?" he asked her. Shiori didn't answer as she stared down at him, her eyes wavering. "If you decide that you want to go back home, then I'll help you get there."

"You'll help her?" the large bat asked with amusement in his voice. He laughed. "You fool. Don't tell me you think you can defeat me, Taigokumaru!" A light started forming in his open mouth.

"Run!" Inuyasha yelled.

Koneko bounded back away from the light with the others as brightly colored rings hit the spot they had been standing, leaving a large crater in its wake.

"I see you're also a hanyou," Taigokumaru laughed. "That undeniable stench is over whelming."

Koneko blinked, glancing towards the hanyou. It wasn't that bad..was it?

"Oh really?" Inuyasha called out. "Are you going somewhere with this?"

"You're recalling your own situation. That's why you feel such great sympathy for Shiori," Taigokumaru answered.

"She's got nothing to do with it," Inuyasha responded to his accusation. "I just can't stand rotten old bats like you, is all." Inuyasha stood from where he kneeled. "Shiori. Make up your mind. Do you want to go back to the village or not?"

Before the girl answered, her attention turned to the side. Koneko heard the sound of foot steps rushing towards them and looked to her side to see Shizu running towards them. She tripped, landing on her knees.

"Shiori," she said quietly, looking up at the girl.

"Mommy," the girl responded.

"If you don't stay and protect the barrier with me, your mother will die. You understand that don't you?" the youkai threatened. Shiori looked conflicted as she stared down at the red orb in her hands.

"What do I do?" she asked herself. "I don't know what I should do.."

"How dare you confuse the girl," Taigokumaru growled.

"Shiori, look after yourself," Inuyasha told the girl as he drew his sword.

The bat drew energy into his mouth as Inuyasha leapt forward, his sword held over his head to swing. His sword came in contact with the barrier once again, flinging him back. He landed on his feet with a growl and his sword still poised in front of him.

"Fine work, my girl," the youkai praised the child. "You know what to do."

The orb in Shiori's hands stopped glowing. Her face still looked conflicted. Koneko felt sorry for the child. She was having to choose between her mother and living her life as a normal child and her duty that was given to her at birth. No child should have to make that decision. Anger started to coil itself in her chest. She would have been surprised if the anger wasn't so intense. Where did this rage come from?

Her neck started to ache once again. When the anger didn't subside, the pain grew intense. Her hand flew up clutching at the spot behind her jaw.

"Koneko? Are you okay?" Sango asked, slowly.

"I'm fine," she hissed through her teeth, trying to remain calm and push the pain away.

A row of bright lights shone around the large youkai.

"Look out!" Inuyasha called out to them.

Koneko didn't need another warning. She jumped away as the light crashed into where they were standing, along with the other lights smashing into the ground and homes in the village, blowing away countless villagers and leaving deep scars in the dirt.

"The village is gone," Kagome said, her voice shaking as the group took in the carnage around them. Most of the villagers seemed like they were still alive.

"Please, help us," one of them asked.

"I have no use for this village," Taigokumaru laughed. "Destroy every one of them!"

"Taigokumaru!" Shizu called out to the youkai before the flock could disperse. "I beg you to stop! This village was safe from your attacks while your son Tsukuyomaru was alive! That was because he protected us. Your son wanted Shiori and I to live happily! He prevented any attacks on the village. Please! I beg you to honor your sons wishes!" she pleaded with the large bat.

"You want me to honor his wishes?" Taigokumaru asked, his voice dripping with amusement. "How ludicrous!" His eyes began glowing red. "Tsukuyomaru was indeed my son, but he was a fool. Falling in love with a mortal only hastened his demise."

"What do you mean by that?" Shizu asked.

"Just as you stated, he said he would protect this village. He said that unless we abided by his wishes he would abandon his duty as guardian of the barrier and would leave the tribe. Even his heart had been stolen by the mortal. That's why..." his voice trailed off.

"That's why, what?" Shizu demanded.

"That's why what?" Inuyasha asked, when the youkai didn't respond. "Don't tell me you..you didn't kill your own flesh and blood."

"I did," Taigokumaru laughed. "I took great pleasure in hastening his trip to the nether world!" Shiori's eyes widened. Shizu started to swoon. "I had Shiori, he was of no use to me!"

Kagome rushed forward as Shizu began to fall. She caught her before her head hit the ground. Koneko glared up at the large bat.

"Taigokumaru, you don't deserve to live!" Inuyasha shouted up at him, raising his sword above his head once again. "I can fix that for you!"

"Try if you dare," he chuckled. "As you can see Shiori can't adjust the size of the barrier. When you slay me, you will also take the girls life."

"Damn it," Inuyasha lowered his sword.

"Do you really think you can do it?" Koneko asked, standing off behind him.

"Do you really think you can kill me?" Taigokumaru chuckled again.

"Oh shut up you old bat!" Inuyasha sneered at him. "I'm tired of playing games!"

"You mean up til now you've gone easy on me?" If the youkai's mouth was able to smile, he would have been. "In that case, I dare you to use your full power!" Bright light shot through the barrier again, surprising the group.

"Gladly!" Inuyasha jumped into the air. "_Backlash wave!"_ Pale blue spirals of energy shot towards the light. It crashed into the barrier causing the invisible walls to glow brightly, blinding everyone. When the light faded, Taigokumaru still hovered where he was, the barrier holding firm.

"Good work, my sweet girl," the bat chuckled down to the girl still sitting in his hand. "Keep it up!"

Koneko's blood boiled once again. She pushed the anger away to keep away the pain in her neck. She couldn't be distracted right now. Shiori's head hung, her silver bangs covering her eyes.

"Get out," she ordered the youkai. She was surrounded in an orange aura. She lifted her head to look back at the youkai holding her. "I will avenge my fathers death." A bright light shone from her eyes, engulfing the barrier in light. All of the youkai who were once in the protection of the barrier were flung from it. The barrier returned to its normal state, with only Shiori inside.

"How dare you," Taigokumaru growled. "You, a mere hanyou!"

The barrier began to dissipate. The girl began falling quickly to the ground. Her mother called out to her, rushing to her feet. She ran out to the girl in an attempt to catch her.

"Even though my grand daughter is a mere hanyou I will never allow the humans to have her!" Taigokumaru shouted. He shot the light from his mouth again, towards Shizu. Kagome ran for her to stop her. Both Inuyasha and Koneko shot forward after them. Koneko grabbed the two women by their arms and yanked them back as Inuyasha jumped and swung his sword at the attack sending the same swirling blue energy from before back at the bay youkai.

Without the protection of the barrier the attack landed right on, ripping the youkai apart. Koneko breathed a sigh of relief.

"It's over," Kagome sighed.

"Over here people!" Hachi called out.

Everyone looked back at the racoon dog as he ran towards them, Shiori cradled in his pudgy arms still holding the red orb. Shizu ran towards her daughter. Shizu clutched her daughter to her, apologizing over and over again as the girl cried into her mothers kimono.

Koneko smiled at the scene. She wondered what her own mother was like and if she held her like that when she was Shiori's age.

"Well guys, we've done all we can here," Inuyasha said, Koneko turned her eyes to him. He was standing off away from the group, facing out towards the water. "Let's get going." Relief filled Koneko. He wasn't going to kill the girl.

"What do you mean?!" Myoga shouted from his shoulder."Have you forgotten our reason for coming here?! You need to slay the youkai who protected the barrier to allow Tessaiga to suck its blood! So make up your mind! Do you want to make the sword stronger or not?!"

"You came here to kill my daughter?!" Shizu exclaimed. Koneko glared harshly at the flea demon. Did he have no sense for a young life?

"Yeah, at first," Inuyasha admitted. "Don't worry. I may be a hanyou, but I'm not evil enough to kill a little girl."

"Especially when she's so sweet an innocent," Miroku smiled.

"And a hanyou like him," Sango added, smiling at Inuyasha.

"I'll just have to find someone else who can put up an even stronger barrier and kill him instead," Inuyasha said, looking down at his sword. Myoga shouted something that Koneko chose to ignore as the two began to argue. She should have squished the flea to death when she had the chance.

"We better be off!" Kagome said, waving at the two.

"Wait!" Shiori called after them. The group stopped and turned back to the girl. "Take this," she said holding out the red orb.

"You want me to break it?" Inuyasha asked, surprised.

"Smash it to pieces," she nodded. "This blood core crystal is a precious heirloom passed down to each guardian of the bat youkai barrier. This is what gives up the ability to put up a powerful barrier. And it stores all the power of each generation of guardians, like my grandfathers and my fathers. So if you break the crystal I think you'll be able to strengthen your sword. That's what you want, isn't it?"

"Yeah, good idea," Inuyasha nodded. "The sooner we get rid of that evil thing the better."

A pulsing light shone through the crystal, turning it from its red color to orange. Demonic aura flooded Koneko's senses.

"Let go of it!" Shizu said, snatching it away from her daughter. It flashed it's light again, burning the woman causing her to drop it into the sand. The orb pulsated once more, a dark red barrier encircling it.

"I should have known it wouldn't be so easy to break," Inuyasha scoffed. He drew his sword. He attempted to smash his sword down on the crystal. The barrier of the orb flashed brightly, flinging him away from it. A crackling aura surrounded it. Kagome rushed to Inuyasha's side.

"I would never let you go that easily!" came Taigokumaru's voice emanated from the orb. A pale red mass started to appear over the orb, twisting into shape. "Simply breaking the crystal won't sever your bond with the bat youkai tribe!" The mass turned into the face of the slain youkai. "Even though your mother is mortal!" The mass flew towards Shizu and Shiori. "I'll kill you this time!"

"Oh, really?!" Inuyasha shouted, chasing after the mass. He swung his sword at the red mass, but it simply dodge away and flew towards the two again.

"Shiori! Join me and the others in hell!"

Before Taigokumaru could reach the girls, a blue barrier surrounded them. He smashed into it causing part of his body to shatter away. He flew away momentarily to spin around and fly back, cursing Shiori.

Inuyasha attacked once again, his sword slicing through the remainder of Taigokumaru. The red mass faded into nothing.

The orb at the feet of the group lost it's light. A crack began to form on the top of it, shattering it in half. The red of the orb disappeared into the ground, turning the orb clear. Inuyasha lowered his sword onto the red that pulsated away from the crystal. The Tessaiga's blade began glowing red. It had absorbed the power of the crystal. The red color faded away, and the sword transformed back into it's rusted state. He sheathed the sword and approached the young hanyou.

"Thank you for helping me," she said, picking up one of the halves of the broken orb.

"I'm the one who should be thanking you for saving me," he responded. "You weakened the old bat's power."

She shook her head. "I wasn't the one who did that. Someone put his arms around us."

"That was your father," Shizu said, hugging her daughter close to her.

The group said their good-byes to the girl and her mother as the sun rose over the horizon. They took to the sky once again on Hachi.

Koneko watched the group silently as they picked on Inuyasha. Their laughter brought a smile to her face. Her tail twitched in anticipation as they flew off further away from the village at the shore. Soon they would find Sesshomaru, and until that day came she would happily travel along with this odd group of travelers. She made the right call. They were good people.

* * *

><p>Well, I meant to upload this earlier today, but I just got The Sims 4 and the day just kinda..slipped away. But I'm going to try and update every Monday and possibly Thursday. If I go to once a week it'll be every Monday.<p>

I can tell you that Sesshomaru makes his appearance in the next chapter!

Thank you to **ThreeDarkAngels** for your review and thank you to everyone who followed and favorited!(Is that even a word?)

Please leave a review and let me know what you think! I'd really like to know what everyone thinks of our dear little Koneko!


	6. The Youkai Lord

They searched for two days for Sesshomaru. He was no where to be found. Inuyasha picked up no scent from him. The group returned to the village with the bone eaters well. Kagome needed to go back to her own time for a few days for "school". The miko apologized to Koneko but she brushed it off. If there was no sign of Sesshomaru, then why look? Maybe he would re-appear in a few days.

Koneko enjoyed being in a human village once again. Especially a peaceful one who wasn't scared of Inuyasha, Shippo, Kilala and herself. She met the elder miko Kaede. She immediately loved the elder woman. She was older than emiko but still reminded the neko of her okaasan.

Three days passed without incident. She learned more of the group. Miroku told her of his wind tunnel and Sango told her of how Naraku had used her little brother to slaughter their family. She decided very quickly that she did not like this Naraku. She learned that Shippo was an orphan after two youkai brothers killed his father. She felt sad for the boy, but she knew he was loved by the group.

On the third day, Inuyasha grew restless with Kagome being gone. He went to the bone eaters well to bring the priestess back. Koneko sensed there was more going on between the two than just friendship but she chose not to say anything. They had yet to realize it themselves.

That evening she sat with Miroku, Sango, Shippo and Kilala at the edge of the small river that ran through the village. Shippo was teaching her how to skip rocks over the surface of the water. Koneko wasn't very good at it. Her smooth stones would simply sink as it hit the water.

"So Inuyasha went to get her?" Miroku asked.

"Its for the best. We need her to come back. We need to continue our search for the shards and Sesshomaru for Koneko," Sango sighed.

"I wish I could go see where Kagome lives one time," Shippo said, resting his cheeks on his hands.

"Me too," Koneko said, ruffling his hair.

"Master!" A voiced called out behind them. Koneko turned her head to the sound of the voice that called out to them. "Please help me, my lords," Hachi said, peering out from behind a tree. He look ruffled.

"Hachi? What are you doing around these parts?" Miroku asked his servant.

"Well..I had no choice but to hide in human territory," he answered, coming out from behind the tree. He looked nervously around him. "You see, those horrible demons from the west are in the neighborhood!"

"Why don't you just start from the beginning?" Miroku asked, standing. Koneko stood her eyes scanning the trees around them. Something..didn't feel right.

"The nekos!" Hachi exclaimed, throwing his arms in the air dramatically.

"What nekos?" Sango asked, Kilala squeaking in her arms. Koneko's eyes fell back on the racoon dog.

"Nekos?" she asked.

"Okay, okay, okay," he rushed, panic written on his face. "The neko youkai are killing every youkai they cross paths with! I'm searching high and low for the jewel shards!"

"What?" Miroku asked, his eyebrows drawing together.

"Yeah! I didn't want to get caught so I ran all the way here!" His arms fell to his sides in defeat.

"Who are these youkai?" Miroku asked his servant.

"I told you they're nekos!" Hachi exclaimed. "And they're not just any old ordinary neko youkai either!"

"Am I the only one who's still confused?" Shippo asked from his position on Koneko's shoulder. The neko shook her head to agree with the fox.

"Let's just get out of here before it's too la-ate," Hachi begged.

Koneko's attention was drawn away as a youkai started to descend the stairs before them. She was taller than Koneko. She wore a short fur kimono, with fur wrapped around her lower legs. Her tail matched the tan color of the fur she wore. Her legs and arms were covered by the same dark material. Her hair was short and red though it was more orange than Konekos. She also didn't have cat ears like her. The youkais ears were pointed on the sides of her head.

"Look," she said quietly. The group followed her gaze up to the girl.

"I hear there's a priestess in this village," she said, a smile curling at the corners of her mouth. Hachi looked panicked as he watched her walk down the stairs. "This must be where she lives right here," she said pointing at the home of Kaede.

Koneko scented the air. The youkai didn't smell like a normal neko. The girl standing in front of them smelled..bad. Feral. Like they spent way too much time outside around rotting flesh.

"What business do you have with me?" Kaede asked pushing aside the cloth that hung in her doorway.

The youkai was taken back by her appearance as she took in the sight of the old miko.

"No!" the girl exclaimed. "You can't be her! She's young and she wears skimpy clothes!"

"I wonder if she's talking about Kagome," Miroku pondered out loud.

"Please, my lord, please," Hachi begged tugging on Miroku's sleeve.

"Do you smell that?" Shippo asked, panic in his own voice. "It's the scent of neko's!"

"I really hope I don't smell like that," Koneko murmured, scratching at her hair.

"It's them!" Hachi exclaimed pointing at the youkai. "It's the neko youkai from the west!"

"Neko youkai?" the girl sneered, a look of disgust on her face. "My friends and I are panther youkai. Don't clump us together with common nekos like that one right there. Or you'll make us angry!"

Koneko blinked at the hostility. Her gaze narrowed at the panther. Common nekos? At least she didn't smell. Hachi hid behind Miroku as Shippo cowered further behind her. Sango and Miroku both started to raise their weapons.

"What do you youkai want here?" Kaede asked.

"We're after the jewel shards," the youkai said, the smile curling back on her lips. Before they could react, the girl was surrounded by panther faced demons. "Better hand them over!"

"I'm afraid we can't help you there," Miroku answered, raising his staff in front of himself.

"So where is this priestess?" the youkai asked, her eyes narrowing. The panther was beginning to grate on Koneko. For one, she smelled. For two, she was overly confident. And loud.

"Why should we tell you that?" Sango asked raising her Hirakotsu.

"Take them," the youkai said.

The panthers ambushed them, rushing them from all angles. Two rushed at Koneko. She poised her claws, and kicked one away from her, sending it to the ground. The other attempted to slash at her face. She ducked under neath his arm and dragged her own claws across it's chest. It jumped away from her with a hiss. The one she had kicked to the ground rushed her again. She hunched down as it leaped at her, sending it flying over her head.

"Back to me!" the youkai called out from the arch that sat at the base of the stares. The panthers were at her side in an instant. "It looks like we won't find the priestess here. But we'll be back," she sneered. She threw a smoke bomb and disappeared in the smoke.

"Did..they run away?" Shippo asked, sliding to a stop from his retreat.

"Yeah, but I don't think we've seen the last of them," Miroku answered the fox.

"It's a good thing Kagome decided to go home when she did," Sango said, coming to stand next to the neko.

"But I'm thinking it might be better if she stayed away for a little bit longer," Miroku said, lowering his staff.

"She's on her way," Shippo explained. "Inuyasha went to get her!"

Koneko grimaced as she scented the air again. The smell still lingered.

"Let's just hope she stays away a little longer," she said, rubbing at her nose.

* * *

><p>The night passed without incident. Koneko stayed up all night as usual. She walked through the village a number of times as the others slept to ensure that the panthers weren't there. It was just a nervous precaution. She was sure she'd be able to smell their stench before they even got close to the village.<p>

Dawn came and she joined the others as they made their way to the bone eaters well. She stuck to the trees as they settled around the well waiting for the two on the other side. They didn't have to wait long. Koneko was dozing in the sunlight filtering through the trees when she heard Inuyasha's voice.

"Neko youkai?" he questioned. Koneko sighed and jumped out of the tree she sat in an approached the group. They weren't nekos. They were panthers.

"You know, I distinctly remember something happening like this fifty years ago," Hachi said, scratching at his head. "Yeah. A tribe of cats swarmed in and attacked from the west!

"Are you sure about that?" Inuyasha questioned, resting his cheek on his fist. He sat on the edge of the well. "It sounds like one of your tall tales."

"Wait a minute, Inuyasha. Don't you think it could have happened while you were pinned to the tree?" Miroku asked.

"I guess," Inuyasha answered slowly. "But I wouldn't know about it."

"I've never heard of it either!" Shippo agreed.

Inuyasha replied something cheeky to the fox starting an argument. Koneko rolled her eyes and sat next to Kagome.

"What exactly happened?" Kagome asked, nodding her a greeting.

"I escaped before the nekos arrived," Hachi explained to her. "I returned after I heard that they all left, and sure enough there wasn't a single neko in sight."

Koneko's tail twitched irritably. "Panther," she corrected. "I don't smell like that."

"Where were they?" Inuyasha asked, ignoring her.

"That's all I can remember," Hachi whined, rubbing his eyes.

Koneko heard them before she smelled them. The panther youkai from the day before approached them from the trees.

"The neko youkai!" Shippo exclaimed.

"Stop calling us Nekos, you little raccoon dog," she said, glaring at the group. Behind her stood another panther who was twice her size in both height and width. He had pointed ears like her, but Koneko didn't see a tail. If he had one it was hidden behind his size. His hair was black and cut short to his head.

"Hey!" Shippo exclaimed, from his hiding spot behind the well. "I'm a fox!"

"Yeah, sucks doesn't it?" Koneko poked at him.

"Who are you and what do you want?" Inuyasha asked, standing from his spot at the well. He moved to partially block their view of Kagome.

"It's not you that we're after," the youkai smiled. "We want the priestess with the sacred jewel shards!" she continued pointing her clawed finger at Kagome.

"Well you're going to have to get through me if that's what you want!" Inuyasha snapped at them, moving to further block their view.

"You're a half demon," the large panther scoffed.

"Gotta problem with that?" he growled.

"You wouldn't happen to be Inuyasha?" the smaller panther asked. Her eyes danced with amusement as she watched the surprise coming from the hanyou. "You must be him," she said more to herself than the group. "Sesshomaru's brother." Koneko's ears twitched at the name.

"Yeah, we're not exactly a close knit family," Inuyasha derided, cracking the knuckles in his claws.

"Let me take on Inuyasha," the red haired youkai said with a sing-song voice. "Shuran, you handle the others."

They leaped at the group. Koneko braced herself to attack when the heat of flames snapped her attention back to the smaller panther. She could use fire. She clicked her teeth in irritation. These panthers were beginning to agitate her more and more. Her attention was brought back as the one named Shuran brought his fist down on her. She rolled out of the way, barely dodging his attack. As she got to her feet, her eyes landed on Kagome. There was another panther behind her with long auburn hair with flowers pinned on both sides of her head. Before she could call out to Kagome and Kilala, flower petals floated around them. They both swooned and fell to the ground.

She was about to run to the girls side when Shuran let out a powerful cry. She whirled around to face him as lightning began crackling around him. He crossed his arms in an X in front of him. A large orb of lightning grew blinding everyone. When the light faded, Koneko rubbed her eyes which were still trying to adjust to the light. She heard the large panther laugh boisterously and she peered at him through her squinted eyes.

He had Kagome unconscious under one of his arms.

"Kagome!" Inuyasha exclaimed, pushing himself to his feet.

"This girl seems to mean a lot to you, Inuyasha," the fire panther chuckled.

"Yeah, and you better let her go," he growled back at her.

"You'll have to come to our castle if you want her back," she answered crossing her arms. "If you can that is," she added with a smile.

They disappeared with Kagome still in unconscious. Inuyasha took off after them. Koneko followed closely behind. Panther faced demons surrounded them again but both the hanyou and the neko swiped at them, running them off.

She stayed close to Inuyasha's heels as they ran through the woods. Shippo clung to Inuyasha's shoulder as they chased after the panthers.

"Where are they?!" Inuyasha growled. "Where'd they get to?!"

"Calm down, Inuyasha!" Shippo urged him. "This place reeks of the nekos scent!"

"If you don't stop calling them neko's.." Koneko hissed.

Inuyasha paused to sniff the air. He started to run in another direction when the sound of Sango and Miroku stopped them.

"Where's Kagome?" Sango called out to them.

"I'll find her, don't worry!" he assured her. He took off in the direction he started. Koneko didn't miss a beat as she ran after him. She was able to meet his speed without effort.

They broke through the trees following after Inuyasha. Sango and Miroku rode on Kilala behind them, with Hachi flying over head. A new scent filled her nose as a cyclone moved towards them.

"Isn't that Koga up ahead?" Shippo asked.

Inuyasha slid to a stop as the cyclone disappeared. A wolf youkai stood where the cyclone had been. He wore fur and armor with his black hair pulled into a pony tail. A band of fur wrapped around his head.

"Hey, mutt!" he called out. "Where's Kagome?"

"Like it's any of your business!"

"I've been picking up a fowl stench of neko a lot lately," Koga said, looking right at Koneko. Her tail bristled as she narrowed her eyes at him. She did not smell like them! "So tell me. Why is Kagome's scent mixed up with them now!"

Koneko bounced on the balls of her bare feet as they argued back and forth. They didn't have any time to lose to waste on a petty argument. They needed to get to Kagome before it was too late. She breathed a sigh of relief when the wolf youkai ran back the way he came, kicking up a cyclone around himself. Inuyasha muttered something about saving Kagome and took off, leaving Shippo behind. Koneko chased after him, quickly gaining on his heels again.

They were moving fast enough now that they left the rest of the group behind. Koneko had to actually put forth an effort to keep up with the hanyou. They quickly made up the time they lost from the petty argument and caught up to Koga.

They reached a dead end.

"Kagome!" Inuyasha called out, his voice echoing out. "Where are you?!"

"Say something!" Koga added, spinning around to see if he could find any trace of them.

Koneko's hearing was no good in the valley. There was too many echos to place any sound. She couldn't smell Kagome either.

"Koga!" another voice called out. "Whats happened?"

"Where did the nekos get to?" a different voice asked. Koneko gave up being irritated for the moment. Until they pointed at her."Hey! Isn't that one?!" they asked.

She whirled around on them. "They are not nekos!" she hissed. "They are panthers! I do not smell like that!" They cowered away from her, clutching each other. Her tail flicked angrily as she turned her attention back to the cliff that stood in front of them.

"Her scent has completely disappeared," Koga huffed. "Just like Naraku's barrier.."

"Barrier?" Inuyasha asked. He drew his sword. The blade of the Tessaiga began to glow red. Koneko jumped back away from the hanyou as he poised his sword at the cliff. "_Wind scar!_" Yellow energy shot out from his sword, cutting through the cliff.

The image flickered, and disappeared.

Sango, Miroku, Shippo and Kilala caught up as Koga and his two other wolves ran towards the castle. Koneko wanted to rush into the castle as well to find the panther demons and Kagome, but her nose wasn't as strong as Inuyasha's. She wouldn't be able to find them. Their scent was everywhere. Inuyasha headed off in the direction that Koga did. Koneko kept up with him with the others flying on Kilala close behind.

It was night time by the time they reached the village. The moon had started to rise, giving the village a creepy shadow.

"What is this place?" Inuyasha asked.

"It looks like a normal village," Sango said from behind Koneko.

"It's a pretty large town built around the castle," Miroku noted as they walked through the village.

Shippo jumped down from Sango's shoulder and ran to a house. He slid the door open. The inside of the house looked recently lived in, though it was a mess. Things had been knocked off shelves, food was scattered about.

"What is a village doing here?" he pondered out loud.

Miroku walked into another home and walked back outside a few moments later.

"No ones around, but it looks like people live here," he said as he joined the group again. "And there's no sign of Koga and his men."

Koneko's ears twitched at the sound of claws scraping along the homes. Her eyes lifted to the roofs of the homes. They were surrounded by the panther faced youkai. It was impossible to smell them approaching. The village was covered in their feral stench. The red haired panther youkai that had attacked that morning dropped down in front of the group, a smile playing on her face.

Inuyasha drew his sword while swinging down on the girl in the same motion. She flipped back away from his attack, landing on the roof of a home a few yards away. The panther faced youkai who were standing there, jumped down, rushing at the group.

Their weapons were ready as they attacked the travelers. Koneko side stepped one of the panthers, tripping it to the ground. She yanked its sickle away from it, parring another's sword. She twisted the sickle, causing the panther to drop it's sword. Her elbow made contact with it's nose. She dropped the sickle and sent a kick to it's temple knocking it down.

She spun around as she heard Shippo call for help. Before she could go to his aid she heard Inuyasha somewhere beside her.

"_Wind scar!_"

The yellow energy that came from the sword threw the panthers into a home, leaving destruction in it's wake.

"Careful!" Miroku called out to him. "They could be hiding Kagome in any of these houses!"

The panthers turned and tried to run. They wove through the houses as the group chased after them. Koneko slid around the side of a house, cutting off a group of four who jumped back to their brethren. She stood as a voice came behind them.

"You certainly are impatient!" the red haired panther called out. She was standing on a roof, two of the panther faces next to her. "How rude, breaking our barrier and busting in like you did."

"Stop yackking and tell me where Kagome is!" Inuyasha demanded.

"Don't worry, she's safe," the girl smiled. "When the moon is directly over head, that's when we plan to sacrifice her to our master," she continued, looking back at the full moon behind her.

"Sacrifice?" Inuyasha growled.

"Naturally, you'll be joining her," she said, turning her attention back to the group. Black smoke started to pour out of the roofs of the houses.

Koneko raised the sleeve of her kimono, covering her face. She heard Kilala transform back into her smaller form. Inuyasha's body started to shake next to her. The smoke smelled just as horrible as the panthers did. She felt it draining away her power as her knees began to quake.

"How's that for potent?" the panther youkai laughed. "Considering how keen our sense of smell is, it must be even worse for you dogs."

"Is this a trap to stop Inuyasha?" Miroku asked. Through her bleary eyes, she could see that the monk wasn't affected by the smoke at all.

"Yes, but it's not going exactly the way we planned." With that the panther faced youkai who were standing on the roofs all raised their spears. The spears started raining down on the group. Koneko was barely able to dodge away from one that would have hit her directly in the face.

"Capture them before they escape!" she yelled over the noise of the other panthers.

Suddenly, a bright blue light blew away the smoke and any un-expecting youkai. She heard the panther curse. The wind whipped dirt up. Koneko covered her eyes to protect herself from the dust as she coughed, feeling the strength come back into her bones. As the dust started to settle around them, Koneko lowered her sleeve. Through the dust cloud, a figure appeared.

He was tall. Probably a head taller than her. He had long flowing silver hair that reached just as long as hers. He wore a white yakima with a red geometric flower print on the left side of the collar and both sleeves. On top of the yakima, he wore black armor, plated at the top with spikes, one side covered in the spikes and the other side he wore a pale pelt thrown over his shoulder. Around the armor was tied a yellow and blue sash holding a sword. His skin matched her paleness. His cheeks bore two magenta stripes and a blue crescent moon on his forehead. His face was aristocratic, with sharp handsome features. His eyes were gold. Koneko wasn't sure before if that color could ever be described as cold, but he succeeded in making it that way.

She blinked at the sight of him.

"Sesshomaru," Inuyasha growled.

Her heart skipped a beat.

* * *

><p><strong>Please read me!<strong>

Well this is kind of a monster of a chapter. But I wanted to make sure that I got Sesshomaru's appearance at the end of this chapter. I hope everyone doesn't mind an extra page and a half haha.

To the important matter. Like I said in the prologue of this story, this is my first attempt to write an entire story in third person point of view. My strongest writing comes from first person point of view by far. I feel like I'm losing who Koneko is writing in third person. I do like how third person give an entire overview of the story. But I feel like Koneko is falling into a pretty flat character when I have her made into a round character.

So please leave me a review or pm me with what you would like to see. Would you like me to continue in third person? Or start writing first person? Or even give you a chapter with first person so you can decide?

Thank you to **Helene** for your review! And thank you for the follows!


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